The girl, the ghost, and the soul reaper
by Bzrk
Summary: Two friends, Victoria and Alex, discover that there is a world beyond their own when Victoria, who is a spirit, almost gets destroyed by a monster called a hollow. Alex is left in the human world while Victoria goes to the Soul Society to learn how to become a soul reaper. (Note:there are two authors of this story and two different perspectives- Alex's pov and Victoria's pov)
1. Prologue

**Author's note: Hi! This is my first time uploading a fanfic, so I am still learning how to make it work. This particular fanfiction has two authors- one of my friends and I are writing it, and we have another friend who edits. I do Victoria's pov and she does Alex's... we have fairly different writing styles so it should be interesting (i hope!). After chapter 2 is posted, we plan on posting one chapter a week. Reviews are appreciated. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

**Prologue**

**Victoria's P.O.V.**

I would like to say that I died a heroic death. However, that is not the case. It was actually an accident. No self-sacrifice, no dangerous battles, no "saving the world but dying right after". It was just a simple accident.

My death was two years ago. I was sixteen. My closest friend, Alex, had called to wake me up. It was daylight savings day and I had forgotten to reset my alarm, resulting in my waking up an hour late. I wouldn't normally have a problem with this, (sleeping is great), but it was a school day. Panicking, I hurriedly threw on some clothes, grabbed something to eat, and ran out of my house. The bus was long gone and the only option now was to run to school, which was about a mile from my house.

Running with a backpack makes one awkward and clumsy. I struggled to a traffic light and stopped to catch my breath while I waited for the light to change. And that was when it happened. Some idiot, who had most likely also been late to something, decided to run a red light. He hit another car, which caused his car to spin and hit yours truly.

It didn't hurt much… I didn't fully understand what had happened until I was standing above my own body. A long chain was hanging out of my chest – the other end was attached to my… now dead body. The chain had somehow been broken in the middle.

The same thing had happened to the idiot driver, except his chain hadn't broken. A few people had come to help, and one of them called an ambulance. The ambulance came several minutes later and was accompanied by police. They took the idiot driver into the ambulance along with my body. I thought about going too, but hey, I was dead. It wouldn't really matter if I went or not.

Then I remembered something Alex had told me a couple of weeks ago. Something about "seeing ghosts," (crazy, right?) and that there was "weird stuff." If I was a ghost, I figured, considering she could indeed see ghosts, then she should be able to see me. I walked to school for the second time that day.

When I walked into the classroom, her eyes widened a bit, but she didn't leap up or scream. Alex was two years younger than me. At age fourteen, she was in eighth grade; I was in tenth. People tended to find our friendship surprising because of our age differences. It didn't bother us – we had been friends for most of our lives. And in my death we remained friends. After school she asked me what had happened, and I gave her the full story.

We both attended my funeral. It was weird. Alex had to act like I was gone forever, even though I was standing right next to her. My family was there, of course, but they were all oblivious to my presence. Watching your own casket and body being put into the ground is strange, if not slightly disturbing.

Afterwards, Alex and I decided to remain close friends despite my being a ghost. I was also beginning to understand what she saw. I could see other ghosts now, and occasionally I caught glimpses of large, masked creatures. Those I would always avoid.

Now, skipping to two years after my tragic death, is where the real story begins. The date was January 12th, and Alex, now sixteen, was boarding a plane to Japan as an exchange student. I was accompanying her, of course, as an eighteen year old, but I was a "still looks the exact same because of death," eighteen year old. The plane took off, and we left America, leaving our past lives and strange occurrences behind us. But nothing is ever that easy, is it?

**Alex's P.O.V**

As I boarded the plane, I turned to look at the bustling airport one last time. For some reason, it felt as if this would be my last time in America. Sighing heavily, I got on the plane and quickly found my seat. As I sat down, my friend, Victoria, knowing that only I could hear her, began running up and down the aisle yelling obscenities. I flinched at her loudness and pretended that nothing was happening. I'd had to do that for the past two years, ever since the day she died.

I was in 8th grade when I began seeing ghosts. At first I thought they were figments of imagination, but then after seeing more and more of them, I realized that they actually did exist.

Several weeks later, I told my childhood friend, Victoria Black. I was sure she just thought it was a joke, until she appeared in my classroom with a chain hanging from her chest. She was telling me about how a car had hit her and how they carried her body away. She sounded stunned about the whole thing. When I noticed that I was the only one who could see her and that it looked as if I was staring at the wall behind her, I knew that my best friend had died and I was seeing and talking to her ghost.

We attended her funeral together. Although I knew she was right beside me, I couldn't help but shed a few tears, knowing that she would never be able to experience the happy life she should have had. It was hard trying to act as if I would never see her again. The worst part was seeing Victoria watch her mother break down and sob.

Two years after her death, Victoria still followed me around. Whenever I was at school, she would pull annoying shit like yelling obnoxiously and pulling pranks. She was probably just bored. Sometimes, though, people would find me talking to her. To them it would seem like I was talking to the air. That is probably why I am known as the weird girl who everyone avoids. If I didn't have Victoria, I would probably be a normal high school student with friends, but because I am always talking to "no one", I am avoided and occasionally bullied. It's nothing I can't handle, though.

A month ago before I left for Japan, I told my parents that I could see ghosts. At first they seemed surprised, but they soon became disappointed and even a little disgusted. Almost every night, I heard them argue about how they had made such a failure of a daughter and how they couldn't believe that I wasn't like my older sister, who was attending Harvard law school. That's probably why they shipped me to Japan as an exchange student. My destination was someplace called Karakura Town.

As I settled in my seat, I looked at the seat beside me that was supposed to be empty. Victoria had taken over it and her face was pressed up against the window as she looked outside. I smiled at her and closed my eyes, awaiting my new life in Japan.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**January 12th-13th**

**Victoria's P.O.V.**

I stayed with Alex at first in Karakura Town. It took her forever to unpack, so I left to explore. Something felt weird about the town… there were more ghosts, for starters. With more ghosts came more masked creatures and more places to avoid. In America, I occasionally caught glimpses of people spirit things in black kimonos. They would kill the masked things with swords and leave to who-knows-where.

The town was pretty large. I would call it a small city, not a "town". There were some parks and a couple of schools. Alex would be going to one of the local high schools here, and I searched for it. When I found it, the school was not in session. I watched some of the classrooms for several minutes. There were no students, but teachers were preparing for the new semester, which would start tomorrow, the day after winter break ended. Alex would probably be fine after a few days, no matter how much she denied it.

As for myself, I really had nothing to do. I didn't have school to attend and I couldn't get a job. I could drive – I had had my license in America – but it wouldn't have mattered in Japan even if I was alive.

I did have a concern though. Over the last two years, my chain had been steadily growing shorter. Right after I died, it was about four feet long, and I would have to kinda carry it around. Now it was less than a foot in length. I didn't really want to think about what would happen when it reached the end. I had been chased by masked things a few times. All of them had a large hole located somewhere on their body… it was usually on their chest. The masked things were creepy. I had seen them eat other ghosts and it was not a fun thing to watch.

I shuddered and left the school. For the rest of the day, I wandered around and at nightfall, I headed back to Alex's apartment. She had bought some Pocky and was resting in her room, listening to music. Eating wasn't necessary for me, but I loved food. Food glorious food. I grabbed a box of Pocky and lay down on the couch. Sleeping was also not necessary, but like food, I enjoyed sleeping. I finished the Pocky and tossed the wrapper towards to the trashcan. I missed. Crap.

Sighing, I got up and placed the trash in its proper place. I took a blanket from the closet, bundled myself in it, and lay down on the couch. I closed my eyes and fell into sleep until the sun rose the next morning.

I stirred eggs around in the frying pan. Scrambled is how Alex preferred them. The poor girl couldn't cook to save her life, and I wasn't going to let her poison herself with her crappy cooking skills. Over the last two years, I had become a fairly good cook.

I put the eggs on a plate, which I then placed on the counter. Eggs, orange juice, and toast. Good enough.

Knowing that she wouldn't wake up on her own, I put my hands on my hips and yelled, "Alexxx!"

No reply.

"Get yo ass out of bed," I said loudly, putting on an accent. "You is going to be LATE!"

"You are not a black lady!" she screamed, still tired. "Stop trying to speak like one!"

"WELL, you're going to be late if you don't leave in 15 minutes," I sang. There was some scuffling sounds coming from her room, and she threw open the door. She was wearing her new uniform and her blue hair was tied in a messy ponytail. I handed her the plate of eggs, which she shoved into her mouth. She gulped down the orange juice and I tossed a bento box at her.

"Here's your lunch, Alexandra," I said. The special Victoria lunch, filled with yummy things. Whoop whoop.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" she yelled as she ran out the door.

I turned the sink on and began washing the dishes. I planned on leaving her alone at school. She needed to make new friends, as did I. I had had some other ghostly acquaintances back in America, but I wouldn't see them until Alex left Japan. I stuck the plate and cup into the dishwasher, and set the frying pan and utensils on a towel to dry.

_Hmm…. What to do, what to do…. _I could steal money to help pay for food and rent. I also wanted a laptop… with internet, games, and more importantly, Netlix. A coffee machine would be nice. One of the good ones that you put little plastic cup things in and that was easy to use. What if they didn't have them in Japan?

I pondered over this problem. I would have to get Alex to buy it… and I would have to give her money to buy it… what would that cost..? _Hmm. I'll wait for now, and ask her when she returns. _It was a good plan.

I wondered around in a mall until Alex's school day ended. I met her at the entrance to her school and asked her how her first day was.

"Good. I think I may have made a few friends," she said._ Don't sound too excited, Alex._

"Cool! Do you want to buy some ice cream to celebrate your first day?"

"Is this just an excuse for me to buy you ice cream?" Alex, asked, and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Why would you think that? I am _appalled!_" I said sarcastically, and I put my hands over my chest in a mock heart attack.

"I will take that as a yes." She replied. "Come on, I think I saw an ice cream shop on the way to school."

The ice cream was delicious. Alex bought a huge bowl of it, and I ate it outside. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, _chocolate chip cookie dough_ – there were so many flavors. Alex had a few spoonfuls and then stopped, so I ate the rest for her.

When I finished, I suddenly felt on edge. The air felt heavy, and I shivered.

"Lets go home," Alex called as she turned to throw away our trash.

Something jerked me backward, and then I was rising into the air. I struggled to move as huge claws tightened around my body. I gasped, and with a sinking feeling I realized what it was.

_Alex is still here. If she gets hurt, then_ –

Its deep roar interrupted my thoughts. It was a truly terrifying sound. I twisted my neck to look – just to make sure – and it punched its free hand into the ground. The masked creature opened its huge mouth to let out another roar.

I heard Alex scream something. My vision slowly faded to grey and I struggled to keep my eyes open. There was a flash of blue light and then – nothing.

**Alex's P.O.V**

I spent my first few days in Japan unpacking and preparing my apartment to be useable. Victoria hadn't been there in a while. She said I was taking too long to pack and left to explore the town. Sighing heavily, I finished unpacking the last box and proceeded to collapse to the floor.

"Maybe I should go get some food for the refrigerator," I said to myself as I lay sprawled out on my bedroom floor. Slowly getting up, I grabbed my wallet and left for the convenience store.

When I arrived, I quickly grabbed a basket and started looking through each aisle for anything that could be made into an edible substance. That is when I found the Pocky. I snatched every box that the store had, because although Victoria doesn't need to eat, she loves her Pocky. When I brought my overflowing basket up to the register, the cashier gave me a double take and started checking out my groceries. "Your pay 4000 yen."

I replied swiftly replied in fluent Japanese saying, "I can speak Japanese," and handed him the 4000 yen. He sighed in relief and thanked me as I left the store with my arms full of grocery bags. The sun began to set as I made my way home. The air was quite chilly. I shivered just as my apartment came in sight.

Then, I saw something move in the corner of my eye. I glanced behind me and saw someone in a black kimono hopping on the roofs of nearby buildings. I walked faster and arrived at my apartment panting slightly. I unlocked the door and let myself.

"What was that?" I asked myself. Looking out the window, I made sure that nothing was there. "I guess it was just my imagination." Snatching my groceries off the floor, I began putting food away in my kitchen.

Once I was finished with my kitchen, I began organizing my school stuff for tomorrow. Apparently, the winter break was ending today and tomorrow was the first day of the new semester. I was excited, yet not about the new school. I was hoping that I could make a good impression and actually have friends here. Hopefully, Victoria wouldn't do any stupid shit, but I knew that was asking for too much. _Aw well. I should probably go to sleep now since tomorrow is going to be a long day._ I curled up into a ball on my new bed and fell asleep to the sound of my iPod playing music.

"Alexxx!" Someone screamed throughout the small apartment, forcing me to burrow deeper into my covers.

"Get yo ass out of bed. You is going to be late!" Victoria yelled from the kitchen.

"You are not a black lady! Stop trying to speak like one!" I retorted back at her.

"Well, you're going to be late if you don't leave in fifteen minutes," she sang.

I could smell the aroma of eggs drifting from down the hall. I threw on my new uniform and brushed my long blue hair into a high ponytail. Checking myself one last time in the mirror, I nodded in approval, and grabbed my school bag.

Victoria, who was wearing the same thing she had been since she died, handed me my plate of eggs, which I swiftly scarfed down with a glass of orange juice.

"Here is your lunch, Alexandra," she said as she tossed me a bento box filled with unknown things.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" I yelled as I ran out the door.

Looking at my watch, I knew I had to pick up the pace in order to make it to class on time. I began jogging to the school, and when I turned a corner, ran into someone which knocked me to the ground.

"Are you okay?" a scowling boy around my age with orange hair asked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I should've been looking where I was going," I responded as I got up and quickly dusted myself off. I glanced at what he was wearing and I noticed we were wearing the same uniform.

"You are going to the same school as me, right?" I began. "I don't really know where it is, so could you point me in the right direction?"

"Sure. How about we walk together so you don't get lost?" he asked, looking at me as if I were some weird alien. "Are you from here? Or…"

"Oh! No! I just moved here from America. I'm an exchange student." I smiled up at him. "The name is Alex Kane!" I held out my hand for him to shake. He ignored it and kept walking. _Okay… Rude, _I thought to myself as I followed him to school.

We made it there with ten minutes to spare. "Thanks…"

"Ichigo, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Thanks Ichigo," I responded, before going to the main office to get my schedule.

As I entered the room, a middle aged woman behind the desk asked, "Are you the new exchange student?"

"Yes. I'm Alex Kane."

"Okay sweetie! Here is your schedule. Follow the map of the school to find your homeroom."

I scanned the paper. My homeroom was in room 2-B. I found my class and stood outside. I took a deep breath and entered the classroom. Everyone froze as I walked inside.

The teacher standing in the front said, "You must be the new exchange student from America! Everyone this is…"

"Alex Kane."

"Please take care of Kane-san, if she needs any help, help her. Please take a seat over by that window," she said, pointing to the back of the classroom.

I nodded and found the seat. It was next to the window, which I was very grateful for because I was never really best at school. I would rather spend my time day dreaming than listen to a teacher talk about things I would probably never use for the rest of my life. The girl next to me would continually glance over at me, and she did so for the rest of the class period.

When lunch time started I was surrounded by people asking various questions about myself and America. The girl who sat next to me invited me to sit with her and her friends at lunch. I agreed and she brought me outside to sit next a tree where three other girls were sitting.

She introduced herself and her three friends. The girl who sat next to me had dark brown hair in two pigtails. Her name was Karin. Another girl from class 2-A with beautiful long, wavy, black hair was called Misaki, and the other two were identical twins from class 2-C. One had light brown hair with a short bob and the other with a long French braid. The one with the bob was Emiko and the one with the braid was Hana. All four girls talked about what they had done over break and asked me a few questions about myself.

"If you need any help finding anything or something like that, just find one of us and we will help you," Emiko said and she smiled at me. She seemed really kind and outgoing where as her twin sister Hana seemed calm and collected. Karin was funny and smart, and Misaki was the prankster of the group, she reminded of Victoria. They were all second years, like me, and I believed we would become good friends.

The rest of the day, I was bombarded with questions. Sometimes guys would ask me for my number or if I had a boyfriend, which at times annoyed me, but I kind of liked having normal people to talk to instead of my dead best friend. At the end of the day, Victoria was waiting by the school gates for me.

"How was your first day?" she asked when she noticed me approaching.

"Good. I think I may have made a few friends."

"Cool! Do you want to buy some ice cream to celebrate your first day?"

"Is this just an excuse for me to buy you ice cream?"

"Why would you think that? I am _appalled!_" she said sarcastically, and dramatically held her chest as if she was having a heart attack.

"I will take that as a yes," I replied. "Come on, I think I saw an ice cream shop on the way to school."

"Yay!" She immediately brightened. We made it to the shop and I ordered the largest size you could get. The person behind the counter looked shocked that I could eat that much, especially since I was pretty short, being a full 5". I grabbed the ginormous bowl and brought it to the table outside where Victoria was waiting.

"Here ya go," I said while placing the bowl on the table.

"Thank you, Alexandra!" she replied in a high pitched voice.

"Stop calling me that!" I exclaimed, knowing she would never stop calling me by that name.

Victoria ate most of the ice cream. I only got a few scoops before she had devoured it completely. I honestly didn't know where it went, since she was a ghost and everything. Normally, I don't even question it, because even when she was alive she ate more than any person I had ever met.

"Let's go home," I told her before I stood up and threw away her trash. When I turned to see if Victoria was behind me, I heard a huge roar vibrate through the air. In front of me was a huge black creature with a white mask, and tight in its grip was Victoria. It roared again and smashed its other claw into the ground.

"Victoria!" I screamed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**January 13th**

**Victoria's P.O.V.**

_I heard Alex scream something. My vision slowly faded to grey and I struggled to keep my eyes open. There was a flash of blue light and then – nothing._

Peace… blackness. Everywhere. There was a low humming sound… Coming closer? No… What was it? I couldn't see anything… it felt like I was floating, suspended in the air. There was a loud crash, and then everything shattered.

I slowly opened my eyes. Someone was standing over me, saying something. I strained to see who it was. My vision was blurry… they looked like a misshapen blob. _Urgh…. _I groaned and closed my eyes again. My body ached and I felt a massive headache coming.

The person kept talking. Their voice was slowly getting louder and clearer. Or was that just me? I squinted at them, and a new person appeared. They said something to each other, and one of them knelt next to me.

"Victoria!" the kneeling one said. Alex? I opened my eyes completely.

It was indeed Alex, but who was that with her? And why was I laying on the ground?

"What happened?" I mumbled as I pushed myself into a sitting position. The non-Alex person gave me a slightly concerned look. Non-Alex was wearing a black kimono and held a katana in her hand. _One of those people…?_

"We were attacked by a 'Hollow'," Alex explained. She motioned at the black kimono girl. "Rukia saved us."

Rukia nodded, and Alex helped me to my feet. I brushed myself off and blood rushed to my head. _Oh geez... I am definitely going to have a headache later… maybe a migraine… That'll be fun…_

"You passed out when the hollow attacked," Rukai began. "It somehow affected your spiritual pressure. If I hadn't attacked it when I did, you could have died. Or, rather, your soul would have been shattered."

"Er… Thanks, then," I said, a little confused. "But… what are 'hollows'? And what are you?" I held up the chain on my chest. "And what does this do?"

Rukia sighed, and held up a little sketchbook. She flipped through the pages, many of which showed cute but poorly drawn animals. "I explained everything to your friend already, so I'll give you the condensed version. The thing that attacked you was a hollow. Hollows used to be souls just like you, but they did not pass to the afterlife. They either remained in the human world for too long, or fell into despair or regret. Hollows devour human souls, and they are particularly attracted to souls with a high spiritual pressure or people they were close to when they were alive. They all have masks formed from the hearts they lost as humans. The chain on your chest… that is your Chain of Fate. It has been growing shorter since you died, correct?"

"Yeah...," I responded slowly.

"Once it erodes completely, a hole will open in your chest, and you will become a hollow."

_WHAAAAAAT_

I must have had a really shocked facial expression, because Rukia quickly added to what she had said.

"I can stop it though. I am a soul reaper… a shinigami. My job is to send souls to the afterlife – soul society – and to defeat hollows. If I cut a hollow or perform Konsō with my zanpakutou, then their soul will be sent to soul society. But, if they committed evil acts in life, they will be sent to hell. So, if I perform Konsō on you now, you won't turn into a hollow."

_Oh. Okay. I was scared for a second there. _

"If it isn't a problem," Rukai suggested, "I could perform Konsō on you tonight. That way, you can go to soul society and you won't become a hollow. Judging by the length of your Chain of Fate… I believe you should pass on soon."

I looked at Alex. If I went to soul society, would I ever see her again? If I stayed, I would become a hollow. I held the chain on my chest. Rukia said that hollows attacked people they had been close to. Would that mean I could attack Alex? No. That wasn't going to happen.

"Okay." I gave Rukia a small nod. "Please do it."

I looked at Alex. "Alex… take care of yourself. You'll make good friends. You have a long life ahead of you. Oh, and marry someone who's a good cook. I don't want to see you in soul society if you've died early from your own cooking." I gave her a half smile. She looked sad, but there was a trace of happiness in her expression.

Rukia held her zanpakutou above me and tapped the top of the sword's hilt against my head. It didn't hurt; it was actually rather soothing. Blue light surrounded me and I felt as if I was being gently lifted into the air. Everything became white, and when my senses returned, I was in soul society.

**Alex's P.O.V**

"_Victoria!" I screamed._

I felt a sharp pain in my side as I was thrown into a nearby wall. Darkness clouded my vision as my head hit the ground. I could feel my body being lifted off of the ground and I couldn't move. When my sight had cleared enough to see what was going on, the black masked creature's face was close to mine, and I was being lifted off of the ground with my arms above my head. Its eyes were scanning my body as if it were inspecting every inch of me.

"Hmm. I guess you are a human. Interesting. You soul seems tastier than your friend here." It grinned while keeping Victoria tight in its other hand.

_What is this? I have seen these creatures around but none of them have ever attacked. Why now? Also, Why isn't anyone else paying to what is happening? I mean if no one else can see it, then wouldn't they question me flying into a wall and levitating? _

"Oh well, I will just eat both of you. It isn't every day you meet a human with high…" It's sentence was cut off as a flash of silver ran through its head. The white mask that had once been covering its face was dissolving as well as the rest of its body. Victoria and I both fell to the ground. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed a short girl, well I guess not that short, a little bit shorter than me, standing above where the now dissolved beast was. She was wearing a black kimono and held a white katana tight in her grasp. Her eyes were a dark purple that shone in the sunlight and her hair was a short black bob.

I scooted over to Victoria and tried shaking her awake. She didn't budge.

"She won't be awake for a while." I jumped at the sound of the girl in the black kimono's voice behind me. I didn't even hear her approach.

"What do you mean? Is she alright?"

"Yes. The hollow had already sucked a little part of her soul out before I got here, but she should be fine." She continued.

"So, was that thing a hollow? And what are you and how can you see Victoria?"

"I am a soul reaper, or shinigami and it is my duty to get rid of hollows like the one you saw earlier. I will explain in more detail once your friend wakes up." She added. Just then Victoria began moving slowly.

"Victoria!" I yelled in relief. She opened her eyes and stared at me with confusion clearly written on her face.

"What happened?" She asked after a moment of silence.

I explained about how Rukia had saved us, and then Rukia gave us a detailed explanation using poorly drawn cartoons. After she was done explaining she told us that she could perform a Konsō on Victoria, sending her to this so called soul society_. _

_If she did this I would most likely never see my best friend again, but if she didn't, then eventually Victoria would turn into one of those hollows. Honestly, I can't remember a time when Victoria wasn't there for me. _

I held Victoria's hand as she gazed at me with a questioning look saying, should I or should I not do it? After a few seconds I nodded my head as if saying "go for it". She looked back at Rukia and gave her a small nod.

Rukia unsheathed her sword and bent down next to where Victoria was lying down. Using the butt of her sword, she touched Victoria's forehead leaving a glowing blue mark on it. Immediately Victoria had begun dissolving starting at her feet. It was making its way up to her head. We never broke eye contact with each other until right before she was completely gone, I managed to choke out, "Goodbye."

I blinked and whatever was remaining of my best friend completely disappeared.

I just sat there on the ground next to place where Victoria once lay when I heard a cellphone go off. I turned around and saw Rukia on her phone with a confused look upon her face. She put her phone away and glanced down at me.

"I have to go back to soul society, so I will see you next time…" she trailed off.

"Alex." I interjected.

"Goodbye, Alex." was what she said before a door appeared in the air next to her. She walked through it leaving me alone on the sidewalk next to the ice cream shop. I got up slowly and staggered my way back to my apartment… Alone.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Victoria's P.O.V.**

**January 15th**

_Everything became white, and when my senses returned, I was in soul society. _

Soul society. I wasn't sure what I had expected. It wasn't extravagant or heaven-like. There were small buildings and everything was crowded together. I had only been there for two days.

Fights would break out in the streets, and small children ran around. If you hadn't been sent to soul society with someone, there was little chance of seeing them again. There were "families" though – groups of strangers who lived together. I wasn't too keen on joining one right now… I didn't know anyone yet. And there was another problem.

Despite being in soul society, I was really hungry. No one else seemed to want food _or_ have food. The living condition wasn't that great, so I guessed not needing food was a good thing. For them. My stomach felt like it was caving in on itself.

I wandered around. On the first day, I saw a huge wall through the buildings. I slowly made my way in that direction as I continued to search for food.

Many hours had passed before I reached the wall. And what a wall it was. It towered over everything. How high it was, I didn't know. I climbed to the roof of a building next to the wall but couldn't see over it. After asking a few souls about it, I learned that beyond the wall was where the soul reapers lived. There were apparently four gates, too, but the gates were guarded and only soul reapers could pass through.

I was also told that we were in Ryuutamashikai, which is where most souls lived. We could only leave Ryuutamishikai if we decided to be reincarnated or became soul reapers. I wasn't particularly keen on being reincarnated – I would lose all my memories of my past life. I jumped down from the roof. Maybe if I could find one of these gates, there would be a soul reaper there.

I walked beside the wall, stopping every now and then for a rest. It made me wish I hadn't been so lazy for the last few years. Exercise really puts laziness into perspective.

I took a deep breath in through my nose. _Ah. The sweet smell of dirt and wood. Joy, joy. Wait…. _I took another sniff. _Is that… bread? _I smelled the air again before sprinting in the hopefully right direction.

It was bread. _Sweet, warm, bread. Oh yes. I am going to have some of that._ I approached the stand. Greetings were exchanges, prices were bartered, there was some swearing (on my side, mostly), but I walked away successful. The bread was warm in my hands, and soft. It smelled of honey and all things good. It was a beautiful golden color, and my stomach growled. My mouth was watering and I slowly raised it to my face, preparing to take a huge bite and relieve my stomach of its hunger.

But then, tragedy struck. Some idiots were running past me, and one of them knocked the glorious bread out of my hands and onto the ground. To make it even better, the douche freaking _stepped_ on it. _Aw, hellllll no. This bitch is goin' DOWN. _

Anger washed over me. How DARE he. I glared at him and his fellow asshats. When he saw me, his eyes widened and he froze. _That's right. You are going to pay for this. _His friends slowed to a stop and realized what had happened. I was extremely pissed. _If he doesn't apologize in the next few seconds, I swear I'm going to –_

"Well, uh," he said, and looked at his friends. "I… you need to stay out of people's way…"

_Are. you. Friggin'. SERIOUS. _

"Me? Me, stay out of people's way?" I snapped. "That's rich coming from someone who came flying down the road and knocked something out of the hands of an UNSUSPECTING VICTIM." I took a step closer. "And no, no. You didn't just stop at that. You STEPPED and CRUSHED my food. Do you know how long its taken me to find that, and the struggles I went through to purchase it?"

"Uh, I, um… we – souls – don't need to eat..?" he offered.

In that moment, I was about to murder a man.

"NO!" I half shrieked. He took a step back.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't know!" He tried to apologize. Oh no. It was too late for apologies. I had made up my mind.

"Um," he said nervously, "I don't know how to say this…. You're…. glowing."

_Ehwhat_

I looked at my hands. Bright golden swirls, thick and almost smoke like, covered my hands and arms. I looked down to see that they were wrapped around the rest of my body. I waved my hand in front of myself and the swirls followed my movements. The glowing stuff spiraled around me, too. _Cool._

The douche was trying to sneak away. "Where do you think you're going?" I said in the most calm and angry tone of voice that I could muster. "Just because I'm glowing doesn't give you permission to leave." I thought for a moment, and added, "If you buy me a loaf of bread you will be pardoned for your insolent behavior."

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and almost yelped. The gold glowy stuff disappeared and I spun around to see a man with red hair, which was pulled into a ponytail. He wore similar clothing to Rukia.

"Who're you?" I asked suspiciously, forgetting about the bread and idiot guy. "Are you a soul reaper?"

"Yeah, actually," he said. "I'm Renji Abarai."

"I'm Victoria Black," I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"I noticed that you have an unusually high reiatsu for a human." Renji stated. "As it is, you could probably enter Shinigami Academy."

_Okayyy… Shinigami Academy, huh. _"Go on."

"Of course, if you enter, it'll probably take a few years, but you can become a soul reaper," he said in an almost smug tone. "I'm a lieutenant - that means I'm the second strongest person in a squad and the only person stronger than me is a captain."

I was about to say something rude when I decided against it. If I became a soul reaper, I could probably go to the human world, like Rukia did. I might be able to visit Alex.

_Shinigami Academy… goodness gracious. It sounds like a college. Hmm… Im not too fond of school, but then again, if I don't, I could be stuck in Ryuutamashikai forever…. Might as well. It sounds like it'll be interesting. _

"If I enter the academy to become a soul reaper, will I be able to visit the human world?" I asked.

"Yeah," Renji said, slightly surprised. "You should be able to."

_That settles it. _

"Okay. I'll enter Shinigami Academy. When do we start?"

**Alex's P.O.V.**

**February 16th**

It'd been a few weeks since Victoria left for soul society_. _I wondered how she was doing.

Lately, I had been hanging out with Karin, Misaki, Emiko and Hana at school. Even today I had to stay behind with Karin because she needed help with her student council stuff. Afterwards, we went and met Misaki at the arcade. We played there until I had beaten them in every game.

_Of course those puny humans _would_ never stand a chance against THE GAME MASTER! _Even as a child, all of the other kids would bow down to my superiority at the game of… MONOPLY!_ Buahahaha!_ I chuckled at my thoughts as I walked back to my apartment.

In the distance, I noticed an enormous hollow that was roughly the height of a ten story building. I would have been completely frozen in fear if I hadn't been seeing hollows everywhere lately. Even as I glanced out my window at night I could usually see at least one in the distance. Although this was my first time seeing one this big, there was no reason to worry, especially since it was so far away. I shrugged and slowly inched my way down the narrow road. I checked the time on my ipod to see that I had been wandering around town for 3 hours!

"Holy shit! I've been gone that long?" _I need to get home before it gets dark. Speaking of home… Where the hell am I? Don't tell me I'm lost? Why do I always get lost?! Stupid Alex! _ I mentally slapped myself and began searching for a street sign that could indicate where I was. I ran to the nearest corner when I heard a high pitched screeching noise. _I know that noise. A hollow must be really close by. _The screech rang in the now dark sky, but this time it was closer than it had been before.

Twirling around, I began sprinting the opposite way I thought I had heard it come from. Then I noticed that the giant hollow from earlier was gone. The screech appeared again, this time behind me, and it was so close I felt a shiver run up my spine. I reached a dead end and began panicking.

I spun around to see not just one but at least ten hollows stalking down the street towards me. I started to slightly hyperventilate and thought, _this is the end for me. I am going to die here. Sorry Victoria but I guess I am going to see you sooner than…_ Before I could finish my thought, a boy suddenly appeared in front of me facing away me. I jerked back in surprise.

The boy wore a black kimono with a white coat over it. In the middle of the coats back was a weird symbol. His uniform seemed tattered and ripped as if he had just finished battling something. I could see that he was breathing deeply and was holding his side as if he had been injured there.

_Was he the one who got rid of the large hollow I had seen earlier? No way. This kid is probably around my age and he looks to be a little bit _shorter_ than me. There is no way he can take down a hollow that size._

His short white hair gently blew in the night breeze, and despite his apparent injury, he stood tall and proud. His back was facing me so I couldn't see his face, I'm sure it would've been filled with determination. I was in awe and forgot what was happening until he disappeared.

One second he was in front of me and the next he was gone. I glanced around until I saw him a reform in front of the one of the hollows. There was a sliver flash and the hollows mask shattered resulting in the hollow dissolving into the air. He cut the masks of the other hollows until there were only a few left. I could see his face now. It held a cool composed look even though he was fighting many enemies at the same time.

I could tell he was becoming tired by the way he was breathing and slouching slightly in between each slice he delivered to his foes. The side he had been holding before was torn open and he was bleeding quite a bit. He landed on his feet lightly after finishing off another hollow and clutched his side in pain. I felt the need to go and help him fight but there was nothing that I could do. I was useless.

He was now stuck fighting the two biggest hollows at the same time. They were pressuring him into a wall when I saw his face break the cool composure that I had seen earlier. His eyes lit up with the determination I had been expecting since the beginning. I blinked my eyes and saw that the two hollows were dissolving.

I had been so captivated by his fight that I hadn't seen one of the smaller ones sneak past him and charge at me. I backed up as far as I could until my back hit the wall behind me. My eyes widened with fear as it pounced in the air aiming itself right at me. I closed my eyes tightly knowing that I was a goner.

A few seconds passed and nothing happened. Slowly I opened one eye. Two big turquoise eyes shimmered with alarm in front of me. Opening my other eye, I noticed it… The hollow that had tried to attack me had its teeth sunk into the mysterious boy's shoulder. I could see blood forming where its fangs pierced his flesh. He collapsed and the hollow snapped it's maw at me again. I ducked and it rammed its head into the wall behind me. It hissed and leapt onto a roof. Taking the chance I had I kneeled down next to the injured boy. His right shoulder was seeping with blood as well as his left side which, I assumed was made by the enormous hollow I had seen earlier. A small pool of blood formed beneath him.

"Take my sword." He commanded, snapping me out of my daze.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Take my sword and jam it into your heart! Hurry! There is only a fifty percent chance that it will work, but if it does you will gain soul reaper powers." He commanded more forcefully than before while holding it out to me.

I don't know why, but I trusted his words. I took the sword from his hand and aimed it at my heart. Taking a deep breath, I jammed it deep into my chest.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Alex's P.O.V**

**February 16th**

_Taking a deep breath, I jam it deep into my chest._

I felt an immense amount of power course through my body. I stood up with a new sword firm in my hands. It was a katana with a blue hilt and swirls of blue covered the side of the blade. Glancing down I noticed I was wearing a black kimono which was the same as what Rukia and the boy wore. Next to me lay my lifeless body which was still holding the sword I had jabbed into my chest.

So many questions flooded my mind. _Am I a spirit? What is going on? Why do I feel so much power right now? What did that boy do to me?_

The hollow that jumped onto the roof leapt towards me. I felt a strange sense of confidence rush into me as my body started moving on its own. I jumped into the air and sliced into the hollow's shoulder with one fell swoop, using the katana I had in my hand. As I landed on my feet behind the hollow I heard it shriek in pain.

"Slice its mask! Otherwise it won't die!" the boy yelled from the ground.

I spun around and faced the now enraged hollow. For some reason, I smirked before charging at it with my katana held high above my head. It swung its arm at my head, which I easily ducked and avoided. Using my chance I jumped once more into the air and aimed my sword at the hollow's mask. Putting as much force as I could into my swing, I smashed its head into a million pieces. I landed on the ground in time to see it completely dissolve. I sighed in relief, noticing that that was the last hollow.

I didn't notice how much my legs had been shaking until they finally buckled beneath me and I collapsed onto the ground. The boy appeared in front of me and bent so we were eye level. His eyes were so hypnotizing I couldn't help but get lost in them. Finally he asked me a question, snapping me out of my trance.

"Are you alright?" he asked with concern coating his surprisingly deep voice.

I nodded my head. "I'm just a little shaken up. Speaking of which, are you alright? It looked like that hollow bit you pretty hard and you seemed to have been injured before the battle too?" I asked, eyeing his wounds.

"Sure. I've had worse than this," he replied. He sounded slightly snobbish.

"Mhmm… Like I would believe that… _Shorty._ Who was the one that needed saving in the end? Oh that's right. It was YOU! By the way… WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?"

"I gave you about half of my soul reaper powers so you could defeat the hollow and… WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORTY!" he yelled back in a childish tone. As he yelled I noticed him slightly wince in pain.

I narrowed my eyes and retorted, "I was speaking to _you_, of course, because I don't see any other, short. Little. Boys. Around here, do you?" I saw anger burn in his eyes.

"FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I AM CAPTAIN TOHIRO HITSUGUYA FROM SOUL SOCIETY! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME FOR SAVING YOU, NOT CALLING ME NAMES!" he continued to scream at me.

I sighed heavily and replied in an unenthusiastic and sarcastic tone, "Thank you for saving me Captain Hitsuguya. My name is Alex Kane."

"That's better, Alex Kane. And you can call me Toshiro." He huffed, crossing his arms like a child pouting.

I rolled my eyes and asked him some questions. "What do you mean you gave me half of your powers? And why do I look like a soul reaper?"

"I don't exactly know how to explain this well, but you now have soul reaper powers which you can use to defeat hollows and protect yourself. Since I gave you half of my spiritual power, I should be able to return to soul society in one week's time." I nodded my head as if I understood.

I sat up straight and grinned like an idiot. "To my apartment, Toshiro!" I yelled in excitement as I picked him up in my arms like a little baby and began carry him down the road.

"Why are you carrying me to your apartment?"

"One, you are injured, and two, you don't have any place to stay right now, do you?"

I heard him huff in annoyance, making me chuckle lightly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he angrily asked.

"What? What am I forgetting?" I turned around to see my body on the ground. I shrieked. "Put me back in my body!"

"Just step into it," he commanded.

I placed him on the ground and did what I was told. Surprisingly, it worked.

When my body was situated, I picked him gently off the ground and began walking toward my apartment. As I continued walking, I remembered I was lost and stopped dead in my tracks. I could feel his stare burning into me.

"You're lost aren't you?" he asked, as if he were reading my mind. I didn't respond.

I could hear his smirk as I attempted to hide my now burning face. "Tell me your address."

"Why?" I questioned looking down at him.

"Just do it," he commanded with a stern tone; all of the childishness that I had seen earlier was completely gone. I told him my address and he typed something into a cell phone he'd miraculously pulled out of his kimono.

_Where did that come from? Does that thing even have pockets? Note to self, investigate later._

"I can get you to your apartment just as long as you don't tell anyone that I allowed you to carry me. Got it?"

"Got it!" I replied cheerfully.

"Good, now follow my directions," he instructed.

Within ten minutes we were outside of my apartment.

"WOW! YOU ACTUALLY GOT ME HERE!"

"Don't act so surprised!" he exclaimed, returning to his childish self again. I walked up to my apartment and went inside, laying him down on my bed. His wounds looked even worse now.

"I am going to have to take you kimono off so I can examine your wounds."

He nodded his head. I grabbed the proper equipment from around my apartment and made my way back to the bed. I slowly slid his white coat off and then his kimono, exposing his upper body. I saw a slight blush tint his face as he turned his head to face the other direction. Immediately, I began to clean his wounds and apply bandages.

As soon as I finished, I got up to leave the room when I heard a faint, "Thank you, Alex."

I quietly left my room and went to the living room. I lay on my couch and was almost instantly consumed by darkness.

**Victoria's P.O.V.**

**February 24th**

"_Okay. I'll enter Shinigami Academy. When do we start?"_

Ah, yes. The entrance exam. When I took it, I thought I was going to fail for sure. At the end of the test, when they asked to see my reiatsu, I accidentally went overboard and almost destroyed a building. Thank goodness they had let me pass.

According to Renji, I had an "unusually high reiatsu." The judges of my test thought so too, so they started my training at the academy right away. I spent two weeks being tutored to catch up with my class.

On the first day of my grand adventure in catching up, my sensei gave me a katana, which would later become my zanpakutou. My sensei told me that in time, I would learn my zanpakutou's name and be able to communicate with it. Then my zanpakutou and I would grow stronger together.

For the rest of the two weeks, I practiced Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō, and Zanjutsu. We trained every day for the whole day, and each night I went to bed exhausted.

I would officially start class tomorrow. I sat on the floor of my dorm and held the sword in front of me. I still hadn't felt anything from my zanpakutou. _What if it never answers? _I wondered to myself. A feeling of dread washed over me. _It'll definitely answer me, _I reassured myself. _Definitely. _

I awoke the next morning at around seven. I pulled on my academy uniform – the female uniform is red while the males' is blue – and got ready for my first real day at school. I brushed my messy hair into a nice braid. _Hm. _I took it down, and then put it into a ponytail. _Hmm. _Frowning, I took it down again. I tried a few more styles and then decided to just wear it down. _So much effort for such an unimportant thing. Goodness gracious. _

I grabbed my zanpakutou and my schedule. I scanned over the list of classes… and realized I had no idea where they were. _Crap._

If I had a roommate, I could ask them. The problem was that I didn't. It was just me and my stuff in this dorm room. _At least it's nice and spacious. And quiet. _

I slowly left the dorm and locked the door behind me. The hallway was empty and silent. _Maybe the other students have gone to class…? _I started walking in what I hoped was the right direction.

_Okay… okay… Calligraphy is first… Calligraphy… What kind of a class is calligraphy? Do I really need to know how to make my handwriting pretty? _Considering what soul reapers did, it didn't sound too important. I narrowed my eyes at the schedule. _What the hell does calligraphy have to do with anything?_

After asking around, I got directions to the room. I reached the hallway it was supposed to be on and suddenly, there were students everywhere. Many were crowded around one doorway and others sat in the hallway or leaned against the wall. All of them seemed to be waiting for a class to begin. I froze. _Am- am I in the right place…?! _

I checked the room number on my schedule and the number next to the door. They matched. _So many people… for calligraphy… why…_

"Is this… the calligraphy class?" I asked a girl who was sitting on the ground near me.

"Yes," she replied stoically. "It's taught by Captain Aizen."

"Oh." I had no idea who that was. "Okay."

She peered at me and, after coming to some sort of conclusion, asked, "Are you a new student here?"

"Yeah," I answered. "I just transferred here. I was tutored for two weeks so I could catch up with everyone else."

A pause.

"That's nice," she said monotonously.

This was going nowhere. Ugh.

I walked to the classroom entrance and made my way through the crowd of students. The classroom itself was quite large and it was _full_ of students. I scanned the room for an empty seat. I made eye contact with some students in the back and they beckoned for me to sit with them. I gave them a nod of appreciation and hurried up the steps. They scooted together to make room for me and I sat down.

"Are you a new student?" a girl with curly, red hair asked.

"Yeah." _Is it really this obvious that I'm new?_

"That's what we thought," curly-hair said. "You wouldn't have known that this class becomes crowded. My friends and I always come here early so we can get seats."

Her friends waved at me. They seemed like nice people.

"Er, thanks for the seat then," I said awkwardly. "Are there any other classes that I should arrive early for?" I asked as I handed them my schedule.

They looked at it, occasionally making comments or nodding. Curly-hair looked at me, and then back at the schedule.

"You have pretty advanced classes for a new student," Curly-hair began. "You must be strong then, huh?"

"I guess… I don't really know how stuff works here yet…"

"Hm… My name's Jen, by the way," curly-hair said. "I've been at the academy for a year and a half now, and you have some of the same classes as me. You must've had a high entrance exam score."

_Entrance exam… Haha…_

"Are you one of those prodigy-types?" Jen asked, still holding my schedule. "Are you going to complete school in, like, two years or something?"

"Probably not… This is my first day, so…"

"Your first day? In the middle of the school year? How did you catch up?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and handed me my schedule.

"I was tutored for two weeks… What about you, Jen?" I asked, changing the target of questions. She was getting too nosy. "How has school been for you?"

"Its been nice. Its not terribly hard, but then again…" Jen's voice trailed off as the teacher entered the classroom. The class immediately became silent.

The teacher – Captain Aizen – stopped in the middle of the room. He was tall-ish with wavy brown hair and glasses. He wore the white captain coat-thing. I glanced at the other students. Many of them seemed to be in awe of him. _What a bunch of morons. Fawning over some teacher. Hmph. _

He greeted the class and began writing on the board. And my god, his handwriting was _beautiful. _How one could write like that, I didn't know. It looked like the style a king or prince or someone of royal status would use. My handwriting looked like ancient hieroglyphics mixed with random squiggles and dashes.

Aizen started lecturing, and, to my surprise, it wasn't _that_ bad. I could tolerate it. Classes in the real world were much, much more boring. I might as well learn how to write like the queen of the world. Unlike math, this could actually be used in the future.

The class went smoothly and at the end I had a few pages of "notes," – papers covered in lovely, yet unstable, swirly letters. The class ended and I straightened my notes. I was almost out of the door when someone called my name. The other students filed past me and I stiffened before turning to see who it was.

It was Aizen, of course. _Who else would it be?_

"Yes, Captain Aizen?"

"You are new to the academy, correct?" he asked calmly while flipping through some papers. _Oh, lord._

"Yes sir," I replied politely.

"What time does your next class start?"

"At 10:30, Captain Aizen." _Goodness gracious. I hate conversations like this._

"Then we have enough time to talk," he said, and he put the papers away. He exited the classroom and added, "Follow me."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Alex's P.O.V**

**February 17th**

"_Victoria? Is that you?" I asked the girl who looked similar to her except for her face. She didn't have innocent eyes anymore. They were filled with hatred and corruption. Behind her a man with silver hair and a creepily happy face-almost as if he was wearing a mask- snuck up and whispered in her ear. Immediately, her eyes began to burn with rage. She charged at me with her sword held high._

I sat up quickly to two big turquoise eyes clouded with confusion staring at me. I was breathing heavily as if I had just run a marathon. _That dream was too realistic. What was that? Who is this boy again? Oh yeah, Toshiro!_

"Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?" he questioned.

I quickly gained my composure and smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine. Speaking of which, how are your wounds?" I asked, eyeing the places I had patched him up.

He stood up straight. "Good. Since you don't know how to use your powers I was thinking I could help you train until I have to leave."

"Okay, as long as you promise to make me breakfast." I grinned up at him.

He rolled he eyes. "Fine."

Swiftly, he began rummaging through my kitchen for something edible. In ten minutes he had made me stuffed French toast. I sighed with happiness as I dug into it. The taste was out of this world. I could feel my taste buds singing with joy. Glancing up, I noticed Toshiro staring at me.

"What?" I glared at him.

He turned away. "Nothing."

I glared at him with suspicion for a few more seconds before returning to my delicious breakfast. When I was done, I lay on the ground rubbing my belly, satisfied. Toshiro walked in and lightly kicked my side.

"Let's go train."

I groaned and rolled over on my side. "Not now mom, give me a few more minutes."

"I am not your mother! Come on stupid!" he yelled, kicking me in the side once more.

"Okay fine, I'm getting up… _Shorty._" I took off running through my apartment and laughing with Toshiro chasing behind.

"Take that back! I am not short!" he exclaimed angrily. I could hear him getting closer as I grabbed my Converse and sprinted to the front door. I was almost free when I was tackled to the ground. Opening my eyes, I saw Toshiro on top of me. His face was two inches from mine and I could feel his cold breath hitting my face. My face began to burn as I spat, "You know, although you are short, your still heavy."

_Hopefully he didn't see my blush. I don't want him to have _any_ reason to tease me._

He clambered off of me and stood up. I followed suit and dusted my pants off. "So where are we going to begin my kickass training of awesomeness?" I asked, hoping my face was back to its normal shade.

"The park." He shrugged.

I sighed. "I thought we would go someplace cool like another world or a magical training area. Oh well, at least I can learn to use my ninja soul reaper powers." From the corner of my eye I could see him shake his head, but I ignored it and threw my front door open.

"Onward to the park, my slave!" I commanded as I charged out of my apartment. The park was in my sights when all of a sudden my feet left the ground. I looked up to see Toshiro carrying me while he was running. We were moving so fast that everything was blurring around me.

"This is payback for yesterday." He smirked down at me.

I huffed and crossed my arms as we suddenly stopped. I fell to the ground and looked up to see a smug grin on his tiny face.

"We're here."

"I can see that! You didn't have to drop me asshat!" Rubbing my butt, I got off the ground and stood up straight like a solider. "What would like me do first, sir?!"

"First I need to determine how good your swordsmanship skills are." He mused.

"How are going to do that? I don't even have a sword with me."

He shook his head as if I had asked something completely idiotic. "Just watch."

He charged at me wearing a black glove with a red flame and a skull in the middle of it and aimed for my chest. My eyes widened in surprise as I was thrown back ten feet. I rolled on the ground and landed in a heap. I raised my head to see Toshiro standing above my body. _Wait what? My body?!_ Noticing that I was now clothed in a black kimono like I had the day before, I stood up with renewed confidence. I unsheathed my katana.

"Looks like you're ready to train. Come at me with all you've got," Toshiro taunted.

**Victoria's P.O.V.**

**February 24th**

"_Then we have enough time to talk," he said, and he put the papers away. He exited the classroom and added, "Follow me." _

We walked down a couple of hallways and into a small courtyard. There was a white table with chairs in the middle of the yard. A small girl occupied one of the chairs and, as we approached, she stood up.

"Good morning, Captain Aizen," she said with a small bow. Aizen warmly greeted her and she turned to me. "I'm Hinamori. Nice to meet you."

"Er- Nice to meet you, too. My name is Victoria Black," I awkwardly replied, unsure of what to do. _Do I bow or stand here or what…?_

A pile of old-looking books rested on the table. Aizen sat down, opened one of the books, and began reading. In front of where Hinamori had been sitting were several sheets of paper, a few of which were covered in sketches.

I narrowed my eyes at the objects on the table. _What is this? Book club? Arts and crafts? Is this what these people do for fun?_

"Oh," Hinamori said, interrupting my thoughts. "Please, sit down."

I complied.

Hinamori sat as well and began sketching. I watched as she carefully and delicately outlined figures and added details. _This girl has got some major skill in the drawing area. _I wasn't too terrible at drawing, but my art didn't even begin to compare with hers. Hinamori's sketches looked perfect and professional. Several minutes later, another soul reaper stopped by to deliver some tea, which was quite good, and Hinamori and I started talking.

I began to relax, and soon we were talking nonstop about everything. She asked me questions about my past; I asked her soul reaper questions. We shared funny stories, too. Hers were mostly about her friend Toshiro or, as she called him, "Shiro-chan." I learned that he was a captain, a short, turquoise-eyed, white-haired captain. Hinamori told me that they had been close friends since childhood, just like Alex and I.

I was in the middle of explaining one of Alex's horrible, horrible cooking creations when Aizen closed his book and cleared his throat. We immediately stopped talking.

"It is almost 10:20," he said. "You should probably head to your next class, Victoria. Hinamori, can you guide her to the classroom?"

"Yes, of course, Captain Aizen," she replied. _Such formality. _It made me wonder if I wasn't formal enough in these situations.

She stood and we left the courtyard together. As soon as we entered the hallways, we started talking again and I was able to finish my Alex's-cooking-gone-wrong story.

"My next class is Kidō," I said as I flicked out my schedule.

"Kidō, hm?" she repeated. "Kidō isn't too hard; it came easier to me than to a lot of other students… it takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, you will probably be good at it. Just make sure to control your Reiryoku and Reiatsu as much as you can."

_Well shit… _I was still fairly crappy at controlling my Reiatsu. The tutoring had helped a lot, but I still sucked at keeping it in check.

_Dammit._

"Thanks," I replied hesitantly.

"You'll do fine," she assured me. "Everyone in your class is a beginner. All of you are learning, so none of you will be perfect at it. Just try your hardest."

**-** Less than thirty minutes later **-**

The wooden mannequin exploded with a loud boom. A mini mushroom cloud of grey smoke formed in the practice yard and wood chips lay scattered on the ground. I stared at my hands in disbelief. A little voice inside my head said, _You've really screwed shit up now, Victoria. _

"Victoria Black!" the instructor yelled angrily. He stomped over to me and waved his clipboard in my face. "This is the _third_ time you have done this! Not once! Not twice! _Thrice_!"

_ Oh yes. Furious, he is. _

Smoke from the previous explosions hadn't completely disappeared yet. The first one was the biggest explosion, though.

"_You need to control your Reiatsu_!" he screeched. "Almost everyone else can do it, but you- you just- _you have the control of a drunken monkey_!"

"Sorry," I muttered. This didn't faze me. Not in the slightest. This teacher was getting on my nerves. My tutor had been much better than this idiot. _I learn from your example, sensei. When you begin being a good teacher, then maybe I'll start being a good pupil._

He rambled on and I rolled my eyes. I glanced at the sun. _I cannot read this. _I looked at the other students' wrists; one of them was wearing a watch. _What time… 11… 11:50… Thirty minutes left. Dang. _

His lecture-speech-thing finally ended. "Let me just say," he added, no longer yelling, "your explosions have gotten smaller and smaller. The first was much larger than the third."

_Is this a compliment..?_

"Thank you, sensei."

"It wasn't a compliment," he said glaringly.

_Oh, okay. Never mind my previous thought._

"Class is ending early today," he announced. "Ms. Black will be cleaning up. I expect to see all of you tomorrow. Be ready to practice even more than today."

The other students cheered and happily left the courtyard with the sensei. In less than a minute, I was alone in a dusty yard with a broom in hand. A small breeze lifted up lighter wood chips and they rolled across the hard ground. I imagined tumbleweeds blowing through the courtyard.

_I need to try and finish before the class period ends, and there's still two more hours before lunch._

I sighed and began sweeping.


End file.
